Shoemaker: Bring back the death penalty for cop killers

Haven ShoemakerOther Voices

My Dad used to tell me to say what you mean and mean what you say. It try to live by that. I don’t waffle. I take positions on issues. People are free to agree or disagree, but at least folks know where I stand.

And while my wife wishes that I would keep my trap shut more often, the overwhelming majority of Carroll County citizens that I encounter appreciate the fact that I take a stand. As a consequence of expressing myself, it causes liberals (including my opponent apparently), to lose their minds and write scathing responses to the Carroll County Times. And do you know what? I’m OK with that.

If folks on the left are so agitated by my opinion that they want to call me names, I hope it makes them feel better. But, I really believe that if you don’t stand up for something you will fall for anything.

This leads me to my point. It is time to reinstate the death penalty in Maryland. On Nov. 16, Det. Sean Suiter, an 18-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department, a former Navy officer, and the father of five children, succumbed to his injuries after having been shot in cold blood on Fremont Avenue in West Baltimore. Suiter, who worked in homicide, was there to investigate a previous murder. There is no question that the scumbag who killed him knew Suiter was a police officer. He killed the detective anyway.

If there ever was a case that screams for reinstatement of the death penalty, it’s this one. While sentencing is supposed to have two functions, to rehabilitate and to punish, it’s readily apparent that the perpetrator in this case is so callous that he is irredeemable, and should be put to death.

Liberal do-gooders will protest that the death penalty is not a deterrent. Well, after Ted Bundy was executed for raping and murdering numerous victims, he stopped raping and murdering. So the death penalty was definitely a deterrent for him.

Until liberal do-gooder Martin O’Malley signed a death penalty repeal bill into law in 2013, Maryland had the death penalty in place. It has been used sparingly — in a total of five cases — during the modern era. Thankfully, one of the people who got the ultimate sanction was John Thanos, one of the coldest-hearted killers in Maryland’s history.

But, besides the fact the death penalty serves as a deterrent for the scumbag who is sentenced, it has other values that the bleeding hearts have deprived us of. Practically any prosecutor will tell you it’s another tool in their tool box to use in the plea-bargain process.

We also hear people cite the Kirk Bloodworth case and contend that it would be terrible to execute an innocent man. I agree, but DNA testing and other methods of modern crime scene science can now effectively eliminate almost all uncertainly as to a person’s guilt or innocence.

Furthermore, the death penalty should be reserved for the most heinous offenders: Those who kill law enforcement, those who kill correctional officers and those who engage in mass-killings and/or acts of terrorism.

People like the scum that killed Det. Suiter deserve to be slipped the juice. I will support legislation to do just that during the 2018 session.

Haven Shoemaker is a Republican representing District 5 in the Maryland House of Delegates and seeking re-election in 2018. He writes from Hampstead.